I think you've got the terms wrong. Its known donor whether you bring them to the clinic or its a clinic donor already recruited. Just with the clinic donor is de-identified information but its still classified as known donor (on the known donor register). In Australia you cannot have unknown donor(not on known donor register) . Its not confusing or misleading because I do IVF and thats the terminology used. Non IVF users will often confuse the terms.

You will also be required to pay a fee to go on the waiting list to have donor sperm through a clinic so you will have to get on to this ASAP depending on age. We waited 1.5yrs.

If you use xytex then you still can only pick from Known donor register, all cost on their website is in US dollars. I know of one person from australia who used them and they brought 3 units at $3,000. Thats what it cost them. And in Australia your not allowed to import unknown donor, they will ask you if your Australian and give you only donors that are on the known donor register.

Xytex only imports to clinics, I was at my clinic yesterday and asked the FS on behalf of the Opening poster. This sort of thing in Australia is heavily regulated and the insemination by a GP would not be allowed. He could be in trouble if he offered this.

You will also be required to pay a fee for using donor sperm too. If needing donor sperm for medical reasons your IVF will have a rebate. If needing a donor because single or gay then there is no rebate.

To the opening post please feel free to ask these questions again in the IVF arena you will find a wealth of information. I only came across your post by accident on my mobile phone.

Not all clinics deal with donor sperm or eggs either. We travel to sydney for such things. We are rural too.

Approx cost are for what drugs they use for ICSI with donor sperm $10,500 per cycle and they differ from clinic to clinic . Then there is storage costs for left over embies. If you get left over embies its cheaper for a FET approx $3,000 per cycle.

Hi @mystic Falls the terms can be confusing, but the others are correct. This is from the reproduction council Australia website:

Unknown donors and known donors
Unknown donors are volunteers who provide donations to the clinic and are unknown to the people who use their donation. People sometimes bring their own donor to the clinic. This might be a relative or friend. This is termed known donation as the donor and recipient are known to each other

It's is correct that all donors in Australia must agree for identifying information to be available, which the child can access at 16.

I've used both known and unknown donors. My known donor was a friend and we had to go through counselling and he had to have blood tests etc. I ended up having children with an unknown donor, in that I've never met them, they didn't choose me, they donated to the clinic and I am able to access it. My girls can access his identifying information when they're 18 (or when their older diblings I found turn 18 ).

You cannot access sperm through a clinic that any offspring can't trace when they're 18. You used to be able to but can't any longer, they changed the rules many years ago.

Also single and gay women are able to access the Medicare rebate IF they have underlying fertility issues. I have low ovarian reserve and PCO so was able to receive the rebate.

Also ring around your clinics. Some have donor sperm ready to go, others have a waiting list. Since you're not already with a clinic shop around

@MysticFalls, as @Flower78 said, the use of the terminology 'known' and 'unknown' donor is commonly used by clinics in Australia, and by governing bodies, such as the Reproductive Technology Council of Australia, which regulates fertility clinics.

As everyone has said, information in relation to 'unknown' donors is recorded, and accessible to donor-conceived children when they become adults - this is not disputed.

As @WiseEnough said, truly anonymous sperm is no longer available in Australia.

I'm curious about what you're referring to when you mention the 'known donor register'. As I understand it, some states, such as Victoria, have a central register of donor information, but from what I understand, other states, like Qld, just have records kept by clinics, with identifying information not recorded anywhere else. Do you know more about this? A quick Google just shows me 'Known Donor Registry' which is a US site which seems to be mostly about matching donors with recipients who want to conceive, and the Donor Sibling Registry, which is a voluntary sign-up.

As for whether you need to pay a fee to get on a waiting list for sperm - this is not necessarily the case. This varies state by state, and clinic by clinic. At my clinic for example, there was no fee for accessing a list, and no waiting list (fee for the sperm of course).

As for insemination by a GP not being allowed, I don't think that's 100% accurate either. For example, if someone wanted to do insemination with a known donor and came along with the sperm, I think a GP could probably assist with that. This probably doesn't happen very often, but I think it would be possible for a GP to do this without difficulty if they wanted to.

As WiseEnough said, single women and same-sex couples are able to access the Medicare rebate if they have underlying fertility issues - so it's not accurate to say that single and gay women can't get a rebate.

I know most of these comments are off topic from the OP - but just in case anyone is reading this in the future, the above info might be helpful.

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